Tropical Storm Ida becomes 9th this season

Just 26 days before the official end of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) named the 9^th tropical storm of the year.

Tropical Storm Ida now has maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. That’s just 14 miles per hour shy of a Category 1 hurricane.

The storm is centered about 75 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua. For those of you plotting this at home on your hurricane tracker chart, that’s latitude 12.0 N and 82.7 W. The NHC says Tropical Storm Ida is moving off to the west-northwest at 6 miles per hour. But, it does expect that track to change more toward the northwest later this evening.

According to it’s 4 p.m. (EST) advisory, the center says, “some further intensification of this system is possible before landfall.” That landfall is expected to be along the east coast of Nicaragua sometime overnight. As a result, tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect.

New computer models from Weather Underground, show a number of different paths this storm could take. One, in particular, takes it up through Nicaragua and into the Gulf of Mexico. If that happens, this system could become a huge rainmaker for people living in the already flood-ravaged states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Right now, Tropical Storm Ida does not appear to be a huge threat to the Tampa area (or anywhere else in Florida). But, because the forecast tracks and models can (and often do) change, people living in the Bay area still need to keep their eye on this storm.

Be sure to check back with the Tampa Weather Examiner for the very latest on what is happening in the tropics. The next NHC advisory should be out by 7 p.m. (EST).

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